55mm

Since completing the original tests in Hitchin Town Square I have been able to test the 55mm Arsat shift lens.  Like most shift lenses, this has a pre-set (non-automatic) aperture.  Initial results indicate that this is an outstandingly good lens.  Details of the results of my tests can be seen here (scroll down to bottom of page).

60mm

Wow! At f/11 the Schneider Curtagon is sharp and high in contrast! But at f/3.5 it is no match for the 50mm Flektogon at full aperture. It is less sharp and less contrasty than the Flektogon at f/4.

At f/11 sharpness increases considerably.

65mm

The 65mm Mir 38B is superbly sharp and contrasty into the corners at f/11 – at least as good as the 60mm Curtagon, possibly a hint better than it, although the difference is so slight that it could be down to the lab. The 50mm Flektogon beats it by the tiniest fraction, as revealed by the definition and contrast of the “No Exit” sign near the left-hand edge of the image. At f/3.5, the reduction in definition is very slight. This truly is an excellent result that the scan has not done justice to.  Remember that at full aperture the cobblestones near the camera are beyond the limits of the depth of field, and will therefore be out of focus.  This is a fact of optical life, not a lens fault.

The aperture on my 65mm Mir (an eBay purchase!) does not always stop down beyond f/11 when I rotate the aperture ring. My repairman has looked at it, and was shocked at the poor quality of some of the machining. It generally does now (in 2002) stop down properly with the added impetus that comes when the shutter is released and it is moving fast from full aperture to the selected value.
 

It might be better to use a 65mm Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon. But production of this f/2.8 lens stopped before the mid seventies, as far as I can determine, and it is in consequence relatively rare.  However, the ancient Mk I 65mm f/2.8 Flektogon that I have just discovered in a shop in England reveals a smoothness of operation that my 1992 Mir 38B doesn’t come near to: movement of aperture ring, focussing, diaphragm stop down pin – all are far superior to the Arsenal product.  All that remains is to test the optical quality of this lens!

[C308-32: On the left: the 65mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon, Mk I version. On the right for comparison: the 65mm f/3.5 Arsenal Mir 38B]

Note added in November 2005: Identical shots that I have made using these two lenses at f/11 have produced images that were indistinguishable.
 

Mir Construction Quality However, while sitting quietly in its case, the Mir has decided to stop operating its aperture at all, so now it only works at f/3.5!  I will send it off for repair soon, but am glad that I bought the Carl Zeiss, which is still silky smooth, reliable and faultless. March 2006:  I recently sent the Mir 38B 65mm lens to Foto-Service Olbrich in Görlitz, Germany.  There, Herr Peter Olbrich confirmed that although “Russian” (in this case, Ukrainian) lenses are often optically excellent, mechanically they are very poor.  This lens was no exception, and contained broken screws and broken screw threads.  He carried out the best-possible repair – and to my eyes the lens now seems to operate perfectly – but he complains of considerable play in the aperture control, a consequence of the way it was constructed.  To see the contact details for Foto-Service Olbrich, click here.

Kevin Ing found his 65mm Flektogon “definitely much sharper than the 65mm Mir”.  See his “Kievaholic” website here.  In his very rigorous tests, some of his results were quite different from mine.  As he said to me in an e-mail, “Perhaps it really depends a lot on sample variation and what has happened to these lenses since they were manufactured.”  With a second-hand lens, one never knows when it has been disassembled, cleaned and then incorrectly re-assembled by a well-meaning DIY repairer.

The “Mk II” version of the 65mm Flektogon has the “zebra” finish that was current for the whole range of Carl Zeiss Jena lenses at the time.  It is the last version of this lens that was produced.

The dimensions of the 65mm Flektogon are almost identical to those of the 50mm Flektogon, although it weighs considerably less.

Conclusion
In conclusion: the 50mm Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon and the 65mm Arsenal Mir are very sharp – at least as sharp as the 60mm Schneider Curtagon – and at maximum aperture, the Flektogon beats the Curtagon! The 45mm Arsenal Mir is, however, much less sharp and contrasty.

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© TRA January 2002, April 2006